A Card-carrying Alcoholic

A FEW YEARS ago, I would have been completely devastated and highly insulted if someone had said of me, "She is an alcoholic." However, just the other day when someone looked at me and made the remark " She is not an alcoholic," I was completely devastated and highly insulted.

What hath God wrought in just twenty-two short months? So many years were wasted before I finally owned up to the fact that I was, indeed, a dipsomaniac with the accent on the maniac. A great load was lifted from my weary shoulders when I made that public admission, and at last, I was able to start on my road to recovery. AA had become the most important part of my life, and after the aforementioned well-intentioned statement had been made, I had to search my conscience. If I was not truly an alcoholic, then I was a member of that estimable group under false pretenses and was not entitled to its lifesaving program.

-- C. H.

East Windsor, New Jersey

This is a preview. To view the full article, use the link below to begin a free 7-day trial!